September 17, 2007

Cannot believe so much time has gone by again and no blog. We just keep soooo busy that I wonder how I ever worked and got things done. Or is it cuz I am getting older and just slower?????? Sometime I really wonder about that.

We left Connecticut on August 25th and headed south. The traffic was just horrid – will never travel again on a Saturday. It took us an hour to go from North Branford to Milford – then stop and go on the New Jersey Turnpike. I said to Tim we are paying to travel this road and we are sitting still. We just laughed but gosh how true that is. We arrived in Delaware and decided to go the old road and go over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. If you have never driven this road you must – it is really unbelievable. It was build in 1964 and considered one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world. It is 17.6 miles with 2 tunnels, 2 bridges and four man made islands. They have a restaurant, girft shop, pier for fishing and places to birdwatch. It takes you from the Eastern shore of Virginia right into Virginia Beach. By the time we arrived here we were quite tired so we stopped at Oceana Naval Air Station at Ocean Pines Rv Park. A very nice campground with cement pads, full hookups, nice laundry and great place just to relax.

Virginia is an old state with loads of history and sooo much too see. The first landing in the new world occured in Virginia Beach in 1607. In 1670 Norfolk was established as a port city and has loads too see and do. We will return to this area again in the future.

We were stationed in Virginia Beach back in the early 1970’s so it was great fun to see all the places we used to go. The area has grown alot over the years and a few times we got lost. We drove over to Portsmouth Naval Hospital – this is where I had Susan 35 years ago. This is the first naval hospital that was built in the world and today it is called the Naval Medical Center. It is huge and still looks new. The city of Portsmouth has changed so much for the better. Today they have beautiful old homes that have been restored, unique shops, art galleries, quaint pubs and wonderful restarants. Very pretty downtown.

One thing we had trouble was finding diseal fuel for the truck. Really strange but got to see alot while looking.

We stopped at the different bases (the naval base in Norfolk is the largest naval base in the world – rode thru Norfolk – along the beach – took Virginia Beach Boulevard from one end to the other. Never realized years ago how far that really was. We enjoyed our two day stay and left early Tuesday am.

We arrived at the Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek, South Carolina around 3pm. We will stay here thru the holidays taking short trips at different times. We are located approximately 25 miles from Susan and Jerry – easy ride – nice campground and the price is right. It is also about 15 minutes to Charleston.

On Wednesday we went to the Shallo’s house and visited for awhile. So happy to see my little girls agian – also my big girl and son-in-law. Our 3 year old granddaughter has never spent the night at anyones house alone so we gave her a treat. She was sooooo good and sooooo cute. She had alittle difficulty going to sleep but finally we were set. She slept until 6am and then climbed in bed with us. Tim got pushed out so he went down on the couch and Julia and I slept til 8am. She enjoyed herself and we loved the company. We took her to the playground, to the book store and then back home.

On Friday the 31st we left Charleston area and head south to Hilton Head Island. We followed the Shallo’s – stopped for dinner – arrived at Marie and Jerry’s condo for the night. Had a pleasant night and woke Saturday am to rain – rain – rain. We were hoping to spend the day at the beach but this was not meant to be. We talked to the kids and played with the girls for awhile and then left around 3 and headed to Surf Watch – a Marriott timeshare on Hilton Head Island.

Surf Watch is a beautiful resort which sits on the Atlantic Ocean in southern South Carolina. We had a two bedroom condo with a nice living room, dining room, full kitchen, laundry room, and deck. The master bedroom has a king bed, tv, and a huge shower. The other room has 2 queen beds, tv and bath. The resort has a sports court, beach, 2 outside pools, 1 indoor pool, two hot tubs, tennis, sotre, activities, health club, shuffleboard, basketball, pavillion and a bar at the beach. We stayed in the Sea Dunes building on the fourth floor – great view and great time.

Tim’s brother Jeff arrived Saturday night and spent the two weeks with us. He worked quite abit so Tim and I were alone most days on the beach – Jeff joined us for dinner either at home or at a local restaurant. We had some wonderful meals out – ate out about 7 nights and at home the other 7. Our stay was just wonderful – just like heaven. We spent most of our time sitting on the beach, swimming in the ocean, reading, drinking raspberry daiquris, talking, walking along the beach and just watching people. We enjoyed every minute and both are very relaxed.

We left Hilton Head Island on the 15th and headed for Charleston. We are back in our camper – went grocery shopping and then relaxed.

Sunday am we took a nice long walk – need to start exercising more so our goal is to walk at least 5 miles by the end of the week. After lunch we went to Susan’s house. Our little granddaughter will be 1 year old on Tuesday so we had a birthday party. Susan’s friend Kara was down with her daughter and us so we had a really nice day. Makenzie enjoyed it greatly – she is much neater than most children. Never touched her hair – just cake on the face. She is just a sweetie – enjoyed the day greatly.

Today we walked again – nice walking path around base then went to the exchange. The rest of the day was spent cleaning and cooking.

Now that we are stationary again I will try to write more often. We plan to enjoy the Charleston area and get to see more of the area. Until later